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Fairy Tales of MaineFairy
Tales of Maine (paperback) contains 37 unique fairy tales that will delight
both adults and children as they can be read and interpreted on many
levels. Even though these tales are fiction, we all know that they’re
really not. Somewhere in a tale is a timeless Truth that will not be
denied. And that is why we love fairy tales so much. They haven’t
got anything to prove because they are the proof.But if you are looking for only
sweet tales that end in joy and fairness, you may want to pass this book
by. Some fairy tales are simply “dark,” and that is because sometimes
life is simply dark. Not always, of course, but often enough.
Sometimes the hero lives; sometimes he dies.Fairy tales speak to the secret
parts of us that we hide from others, so if you are brave, you might meet
yourself in one of these pages.

EXCERPT: There
once was a seagull who was smitten with an owl. Every day he came to
visit her, bringing her bits of fish and other fine things to nibble on, and
every day she refused him. The more she refused him, the more he came to
visit. Sometimes he would sing songs to her in his strange gull language,
which was full of wails and cries and eerie sounds, as gulls are wont to
do. She never acknowledged his songs with so much as a “who who.”

Other
times the seagull would perform daring feats of flight above the owl, now dashing
downward or slicing upward through the sky in an attempt to impress her.
But she snubbed him every time, ignoring his advances and remaining as rigid as
stone. The gull was at last heartbroken, but still he came to visit her
daily, facing in the opposite direction so as not to upset her.

One
afternoon an old farmer came walking toward the dock. Upon seeing the
gull, he shook his fist and yelled and screamed to chase the gull away.
He did not like gulls on his dock at all because they are not known to be the
cleanest of birds. The gull flew off to the next dock and watched from a
safe distance.

The
farmer went up to the owl and picked her up and tucked her under his arm.
Then he walked a distance on the dock and set her down again. The owl never
said a word or made a movement.

“Now
you chase those gulls away, girl,” the old farmer said, “or I’ll bring you back
to where I got you!”

Then
he walked away up the dock, grumbling under his breath, “Lousiest decoy I ever
had . . .”

As
soon as he left, the seagull swooped back onto the dock and got very close to
the owl.

“Oh,
my darling,” he said, “I had no idea how much of yourself you had sacrificed
just to let me stay here. Truly, I will love you forever! Now I
understand, my love, and you needn’t ever say a word.”

And
with that, the seagull sat down very close to the owl, and she sat very close
to him. Neither said a word, but there was an understanding between
them. To this day, I am told, the visits continue.

______________________________

You can buy "Fairy Tales of Maine" from the following booksellers linked below:

Here is the long-awaited e-book, The Tales of Persephone, a retelling of the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries. It was originally published in 13 different segments on this blog, which were all removed about nine weeks after the last one was published. The story in its entirety is now only available in this book.

Follow Persephone as she comes to life again (what she does
best, after all) in this retelling of the Bronze Age
religion of ancient Greece.This story of the human journey through the
wisdom of the four seasons breathes new life into the archetypal guide that was
left to us thousands of years ago.The
map is still there. See the book details here and the excerpt below.

EXCERPT: "Down deep and snug in the underworld, Persephone sat on a
diamond throne in a marble palace built just for her.All around her, gems gleamed and sparkled in
the walls.She sipped her blackened wine
and felt the coolness of the magic of fermentation as it touched her
throat.All is as it should be, she thought.

And yet somewhere . . . in her mind? in her heart? in her
body? . . . she heard the faintest of sounds, the tinkling of a tiny bell.Over and over the sweet little bell chimed
mystically and hauntingly, barely audible.She arose from her throne and searched the great hall but found
nothing.Yet she knew that whatever she
was looking for would not be found in the great hall.

In a tiny chamber just outside of her bedroom, where she
stored many of her precious gems, there was a small door in the very back.It was an old chamber and an old door, and
she was quite certain that no one knew of this door, save her.Not even the Lord of Winter knew, so it must
have been a great secret, indeed.In
fact, she had all but forgotten about it herself.It was to this door that she felt herself
drawn, listening to the faint tinkling of the bell.

When she opened the door, she found a small passageway into
the raw Earth, just as she had left it so long ago--so long that she could not
remember when.She stepped into the
passageway and closed the door.There,
all the raw gems and stark uncut beauty of the Underworld gleamed before
her.She felt herself charmed, once
again, and drawn to the cool beauty of the gems, which she reached out to touch
and savor.

Until she heard the tiny bell again.Come
back to me."

You can buy "The Tales of Persephone" from the following booksellers linked below:

I am a freelance writer living in Maine, and I am the owner and author of the In Pursuit of Maine blog. I specialize in creative writing but also write historical articles as well as how to, gardening, cooking, practical articles, etc. My passion is outdoor living, farming, and gardening, but I write in many genres.